Air Quality

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have not responded by legally required deadlines to the request and subsequent appeal by the Campaign for Clean Air in London in relation to information relating to a meeting that took place on 22 January 2009 between Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, on air quality matters.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government always strive to meet the 20 working day deadline for responding to requests made under the environmental information regulations (EIRs). However, we very much regret that in this case we were unable to meet the deadline at either the initial request or internal review stage. This was because the request from the Campaign for Clean Air in London involved some detailed and careful consideration about the application or otherwise of certain of the exceptions in the EIRs, the consequent balance of the public interest arguments around the disclosure of advice to ministers as well as consultation with third parties about information relating to them.

Alpacas and Llamas

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place regarding the health of alpacas and llamas in England.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain, launched in June 2004, continues to direct the Government and others in their work to bring about long-term improvements to the well-being of England's kept animals, including camelids (alpacas and llamas).
	Suspicion of a notifiable exotic animal disease in camelids is notifiable to Animal Health. Defra has a scanning surveillance program in place to measure notifiable diseases.
	Through Defra's surveillance programmes, the Veterinary Laboratory Agency has identified Johne's disease and Bovine Viral Diarrhoea in llamas and alpacas and is undertaking research to better understand diseases in these species.
	The camelid sector in the UK has acted in a largely responsible manner in proactively vaccinating its animals against bluetongue serotype 8 (BTV8). Bluetongue- susceptible animals imported into the UK, including alpacas and llamas, will be tested for BTV8 on arrival.

Alpacas and Llamas

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they pay compensation for bovine tuberculosis to owners of alpacas and llamas; or whether such payments are decided locally in England.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Once testing and slaughter protocols have been agreed with the owner, Defra's approach is to provide compensation of £750 for each TB-affected alpaca and/or llama required to be slaughtered for disease control purposes.

Alpacas and Llamas

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government which anatomical part of llamas and alpacas is used for testing for bovine tuberculosis.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The preferred anatomical part for TB testing in llamas and alpacas (camelids) is the neck at the base of the cervical area about level with the animal's back (cranial scapular). The auxiliary, behind the front leg, is also acceptable. The fibre is shaved off so the test site is easily seen.

Armed Forces Day: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding was provided by the Ministry of Defence for the Armed Forces Day in Carrickfergus.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The MoD provided £10,000 of funding to the Armed Forces Day event in Carrickfergus.

Common Agricultural Policy: Single Farm Payment

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many farmers receiving the single farm payment were wrongly paid in each year from 2005 to 2008; and how many farmers have outstanding claims for those years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The number of farmers whose single payment scheme claims we currently identify as needing adjustment post-payment is set out below:
	
		
			 Scheme Year Number of farmers* 
			 2005 26,296 
			 2006 15,494 
			 2007 7,661 
			 2008 1,485 
		
	
	* It should be noted that some farmers may be included against more than one year.
	The number of farmers who have received no single payment scheme payment to date from a valid claim is:
	
		
			 Scheme Year Number of farmers* 
			 2005 3 
			 2006 8 
			 2007 44 
			 2008 114 
		
	
	Some farmers may be included against more than one year, as above.
	The majority of these relate to probate issues.

Common Agricultural Policy: Single Farm Payment

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money has been recovered from overpayments of the single farm payment in each year 2005 to 2008.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The amount of money recovered from single payment scheme overpayments for each year 2005 to 2008 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Year Amount Recovered 
			 2005 £19.1 million 
			 2006 £13.7 million 
			 2007 £4.5 million 
			 2008 £0.08 million

Devolved Administrations

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have funded, or intend to fund, major capital projects for the devolved Administrations which are opposed to its policy on the environment.

Lord Myners: Major capital projects in devolved areas of policy are for the devolved Administrations to fund from within their overall block budgets.

Devolved Administrations

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances they will allow a devolved Administration to undertake an option which is more expensive than an option based on environmental considerations.

Lord Myners: In devolved areas of spending it is up to the devolved Administrations to assess the financial and environmental considerations of devolved spending projects.

Italy: Antiquities

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what requests have been received from the Italian legal authorities for assistance in returning to Italy antiquities allegedly exported illegally, formerly in the possession of Mr Robin Symes; and what response has been offered.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK can receive requests for assistance to return antiquities that have been allegedly illegally exported, through a number of routes including:
	the EU Council Directive 93/7/EC 1993 and the European Communities (Return of Cultural Objects) Regulations 1994, which set out procedures for mutual assistance between EU member states for the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of an EU member state. Such requests are handled by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The DCMS has received no requests for assistance from the Italian authorities in relation to Mr Symes under the EU Council Directive; andmutual legal assistance (MLA) in criminal matters. The Home Office UK Central Authority (UKCA) handles requests for mutual legal assistance where the assistance required is for use in an ongoing criminal investigation or for use in criminal proceedings. The UK is able to provide a wide range of assistance under the provisions of the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005.
	It is the normal policy of the Home Office to neither confirm nor deny the receipt of MLA requests so as not to prejudice ongoing criminal investigations or criminal proceedings.

Morocco: Fisheries Agreements

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what terms they consider the fisheries agreement between the United Kingdom and Morocco should be renewed.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco expires in 2011. As with all negotiations with third countries we will seek to ensure that the financial compensation offered to Morocco in exchange for fishing opportunities is used to aid development of Morocco's fishing industry and its national administration's ability to effectively conserve fisheries resources. In agreeing the fishing opportunities to the EU fleet we would seek to ensure that the best available scientific advice is strictly adhered to.

National DNA Database

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to remove innocent citizens from the DNA database.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on crime in Scotland of removing innocent citizens from the DNA database.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the appeal made by African Peoples Advocacy regarding the process for removal from the DNA database of innocent citizens from black and ethnic minority communities.

Lord West of Spithead: We are currently considering the results of the public consultation exercise conducted over the summer on proposals for a proportionate framework for the retention of DNA in light of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S and Marper.
	As soon as parliamentary time allows, we will bring forward appropriate measures which will place the detail of DNA retention periods on the face of primary legislation, allowing full debate and scrutiny on the issue in both Houses.
	As far as the process of removal raised by the African Peoples Advocacy is concerned, currently only chief police officers have the discretion to decide whether to remove DNA records. The guidance on the exceptional case procedure issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers makes it clear that records and profiles which have been taken lawfully will be removed only in exceptional cases. If a person thinks their DNA records should be removed from the database all they need to do is write to their local chief police officer setting out what they feel are the exceptional circumstances around their case that would qualify for their records to be removed.
	The consultation paper on DNA retention proposed placing the exceptional case procedure on a statutory footing and detailing the criteria under which applications should be considered. This aims to make the process more open and transparent and to raise public awareness of the ability to apply for deletion and the grounds on which such applications could be made.
	The retention rules for the DNA database as they apply in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Executive and as such Her Majesty's Government are unable to provide an assessment.

Northern Ireland Office: Consultants

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what outside consultants were employed by the Northern Ireland Office from 1 September in each of the past five years; for what tasks; and at what cost.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has control mechanisms in place to ensure that the use of external consultancy is managed appropriately. The cost of external consultancy has dropped steadily over the past four financial years with a 45 per cent reduction in costs over the period.
	Detailed information on the use of external consultants by the NIO and its executive agencies is only available for each financial year from 2005-06 to 2008-09. The following tables give a breakdown of the type of consultancy provided and the costs in each of the last four financial years.
	
		
			 NIO and Executive Agencies Financial Year 2005-06 
			 Management  
			 CPCR Ltd £300,000 
			 Deloitte £107,500 
			 Williamson Consulting £36,239 
			 Grafton Recruiting £32,000 
			 Jenkinson Consulting £24,000 
			 Parity £19,835 
			 Price Waterhouse Coopers £15,080 
			 Clairteq Systems Consulting £14,252 
			 Penna PLC £12,866 
			 TTC International £11,485 
			 OGC £10,861 
			 Anderson Spratt £10,497 
			 M.M.M.A £9,990 
			 QUB £9,054 
			 FSS £8,556 
			 JBM Consultants Ltd £7,380 
			 The Whitehall & Industry Group £4,000 
			 The Test Score £3,414 
			 BBC Consultancy £2,720 
			 Daniell Consulting £2,147 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £85,913 
			 Cumulative total £727,789 
			 Financial 
			 Watts & Partners £131,473 
			 PWC £38,939 
			 BDO £14,500 
			 AH Design £6,580 
			 ASM Howarth £6,000 
			 QUB £2,524 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £67,430 
			 Cumulative total £267,446 
			 Assurance 
			 OGC £14,000 
			 T & S International £1,640 
			 Cumulative total £15,640 
			 Research 
			 Keppies Design £120,158 
			 L'Estrange & Brett £56,352 
			 Napier Watson £40,907 
			 Colin Burrows CICS Ltd £29,515 
			 Anderson Spratt £10,229 
			 AASK £9,000 
			 Turley Assoc £6,112 
			 Claire Consulting £1,000 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £195,576 
			 Cumulative total £468,849 
			 Marketing 
			 Anderson Spratt £18,000 
			 Cumulative total £18,000 
			 General Consultancy 
			 Cleaver Fulton & Rankin £20,000 
			 Deloitte £19,975 
			 Aedas £9,500 
			 BDP £7,300 
			 Karolyn Cooper £6,017 
			 Cowan Architectural £4,000 
			 DLA £3,080 
			 CSO £126 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £5,000 
			 Cumulative total £74,998 
			 IT Consultancy 
			 Tim Lewis Rec £311,651 
			 Deloitte £146,544 
			 Osprey Mott MacDonald £126,409 
			 PA Consulting £72,800 
			 Securetest £72,701 
			 Parasol £52,700 
			 ICS Computing £25,740 
			 HP £22,700 
			 Mentec International Ltd £19,245 
			 Deloitte £7,000 
			 IB Solutions £875 
			 Cumulative total £858,365 
			 Total Expenditure 05/06 £2,431,087 
		
	
	
		
			 Executive Agencies Financial Year 2006-07 
			 Management  
			 Deloitte £92,839 
			 Grafton Recruitment £65,163 
			 CPCR £22,200 
			 Parity £19,835 
			 Deloitte £17,476 
			 Jenkinson Consultancy £16,215 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers £12,393 
			 The Whitehall Industry Group £8,000 
			 Stredia £2,540 
			 Young Minds £2,068 
			 CIPFA £2,000 
			 McMurray Consulting Ltd £1,000 
			 Allnut & Assoc £911 
			 JBM Consultants Ltd £265 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £60,572 
			 Cumulative total £323,477 
			 Financial 
			 Watts & Partners £86,000 
			 BDO £19,181 
			 PWC £15,820 
			 AH Design £5,600 
			 QUB £2,524 
			 Other/Individual Contracts £63,870 
			 Cumulative total £192,995 
			 Assurance 
			 Deloitte £40,919 
			 OGC £14,000 
			 T&S International Training £6,030 
			 Scrutiny Panel £5,117 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £19,530 
			 Cumulative total £85,596 
			 Research 
			 Dream Group Ltd £106,040 
			 Deloitte £49,175 
			 ARCS UK Ltd £30,000 
			 DSTL £28,667 
			 Northern Ireland Youth Forum £3,000 
			 Community Dialogue £2,550 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £153,263 
			 Cumulative total £372,695 
			 Marketing 
			 Anderson Spratt £23,504 
			 Cumulative total £23,504 
			 General Consultancy 
			 Keppie Design £90,000 
			 Operational Team £47,000 
			 BDP £34,075 
			 Newell & Budge £22,976 
			 Cleaver Fulton Rankin £15,260 
			 Aedas £9,500 
			 RPS £7,250 
			 L'Estrange & Brett £4,540 
			 Crown Architectural £1,800 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £40,659 
			 Cumulative total £273,060 
			 IT Consultancy 
			 Tim Lewis Rec £60,000 
			 Osprey Mott Mac Donald £56,959 
			 Parasol £50,000 
			 Singularity £28,050 
			 BT £27,318 
			 Mentec Int Ltd £26,490 
			 BIC Systems £15,407 
			 HP £15,000 
			 Deloitte £10,000 
			 PA Consulting £9,060 
			 DLA Piper £8,958 
			 Photobase £7,285 
			 OGC £5,974 
			 Biznet £5,858 
			 DID £129 
			 BDS £41 
			 Cumulative total £326,529 
			 Total Expenditure 06/07 £1,597,856 
		
	
	
		
			 NIO and Executive Agencies Financial Year 2007-08 
			 Management  
			 NI Youth Forum £1,007 
			 Anderson Spratt £17,049 
			 Kairos £8,500 
			 Deloitte £24,663 
			 FGS McClure Watters £14,000 
			 Capita Learning & Dev £1,415 
			 Grafton Recruitment £12,756 
			 Odgers Ray and Berndston £35,281 
			 Jenkinson Consulting £1,800 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £10,176 
			 Cumulative total £126,618 
			 Financial 
			 Disability Action £4,179 
			 Moore Stephens (CJINI) £2,926 
			 PKF Consultancy £50,878 
			 PWC £60,350 
			 Cumulative total £118,333 
			 Assurance 
			 T&S International £23,262 
			 UKAS Accreditation £2,203 
			 Jenkinson Consulting £895 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £11,515 
			 Cumulative total £37,875 
			 Research 
			 Quality Business Management £5,423 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £52,517 
			 Cumulative total £57,940 
			 Marketing 
			 GPS £2,500 
			 Coppernoise £1,145 
			 Label One Ltd £3,273 
			 Peninsula Print & Design Ltd £998 
			 Page Setup £1,262 
			 Milward Brown Ulster £21,385 
			 Cumulative total £30,562 
			 General Consultancy 
			 Carter Globe associates £36,000 
			 Myles Danker Estate Man Advice £2,500 
			 Quest Consulting £17,000 
			 Williams & Shaw £1,000 
			 BDP £8,267 
			 L'Estrange and Brett £9,598 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £61,106 
			 Cumulative total £135,471 
			 IT Consultancy 
			 Mott MacDonald £295,220 
			 Deloitte £22,770 
			 PWC (CJINI) £5,170 
			 Microsoft £48,000 
			 ICS £20,000 
			 Fujitsu £513,000 
			 iB Solutions £22,000 
			 NDI £20,000 
			 Selex £23,778 
			 ICS £29,150 
			 Real Estate Management £3,990 
			 Cumulative total £1,003,078 
			 Total Expenditure 07/08 £1,509,877 
		
	
	
		
			 NIO and Executive Agencies Financial Year 2008-09 
			 Management  
			 MacDonald Stephen Consultancy Ltd £33,044 
			 Deloitte £57,554 
			 KPMG £22,000 
			 Hays Healthcare Consultancy £20,139 
			 Kairos £8,500 
			 Social Research Centre Ltd £10,315 
			 Carter Goble Lee £32,400 
			 SRB Consultants £4,469 
			 PWC £5,220 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £87,858 
			 Cumulative total £281,499 
			 Financial 
			 PWC £60,853 
			 BDP £29,719 
			 Deloitte £11,260 
			 Clarke Shipway £8,721 
			 Cumulative total £110,553 
			 Assurance 
			 OCPA £1,393 
			 OGC £13,600 
			 Grant Thornton £19,650 
			 Key Forensic Services £43,436 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £21,979 
			 Cumulative total £100,058 
			 Research 
			 Williamson Consulting £1,884 
			 Cumulative total £1,884 
			 Marketing 
			 N/A 0 
			 General Consultancy 
			 PWC £89,776 
			 Fitzsimons Kinney Mallon Sols £532 
			 Hamilton Architects £1,500 
			 Grant Thornton £19,815 
			 DLA Piper £37,519 
			 Hays Construction & Property £9,769 
			 Others/Individual Contracts £134,516 
			 Cumulative total £293,427 
			 IT Consultancy 
			 Deloitte £20,000 
			 Fluent Technology £1,050 
			 Fujitsu £233,000 
			 Lagan £5,000 
			 ICS £40,000 
			 Mott Macdonald £212,137 
			 Selex £11,000 
			 Biznet £4,994 
			 Cumulative total £527,181 
			 Total Expenditure 08/09 £1,314,602

Pollution: Airborne Particles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average number of years lost per person in England and Wales who dies prematurely from short-, medium- or long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10).

Lord Davies of Oldham: Calculations carried out for the review of the UK air quality strategy (www.defra. gov.uk/environment/quality/air/airquality/publications/stratreview-analysis/index.htm) estimated that, if all man-made fine particulate matter (PM2.5) present in the UK in 2005 were removed for the lifetime of people born in 2005, the average life expectancy per person would be 7 to 8 months greater than if the level of man-made PM2.5 had remained at 2005 levels for a lifetime.
	The above calculation represents the effect of long-term exposure to fine particles. A similar calculation has not been done for PM10 since the evidence that it is a good metric for representing the effect of long-term exposure is much weaker than for PM2.5. (www. advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/comeap/pdfs/finallongtermeffectsmort2009report.pdf).
	Studies of short-term exposure to PM10 do suggest a link with increased mortality but the studies do not give direct information on the life lost per person. It is thought that those affected are probably already seriously ill but that many of the deaths are brought forward by several months, rather than just days or weeks.
	There are too few studies of the effects of medium term exposure for calculations such as those above to be made.

Pollution: Airborne Particles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their calculation, based on the latest advice from the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (using a six per cent coefficient for all-cause mortality), of the number of people who died prematurely in Greater London in 2005 as a result of short-, medium- or long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10).
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their calculation, based on the latest advice from the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollutants for sensitivity analyses (assuming a 12 per cent and a 15 per cent coefficient for all-cause mortality), of the number of people who died prematurely in Greater London in 2005 as a result of short-, medium- or long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10).

Lord Davies of Oldham: The specified coefficients relate only to the effects of long-term exposure.
	Calculations on the health impact of long-term exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) in Greater London will be done as part of a forthcoming supplement to the report of the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants on Long-term Exposure to Air Pollution: Effect on Mortality (www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/COMEAP/pdfs/finallongtermeffectsmort2009report.pdf.
	The main results will be expressed in terms of effect on life expectancy, as this is more appropriate with regard to long-term exposure. However, there is also likely to be discussion on changes in the numbers of deaths over time.

Sierra Leone: Visas

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on citizens of Sierra Leone of the decision to cease issuing visas in Freetown; and what is the estimated annual saving achieved by that decision.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK Border Agency continues to issue visas in Freetown, Sierra Leone. All applicants in Sierra Leone continue to be able to submit their applications and collect appropriate documentation in Freetown. Responsibility for decision-making on visas, however, has been transferred to Banjul as part of the UK Border Agency's "hub and spoke programme". This is a global strategy to improve the quality and consistency of visa decision-making by consolidating decision-making in a regional hub, thus allowing consideration of an application in a different location from that in which it was registered.
	The change was primarily driven by the need to improve the consistency of decision quality by transferring it to a larger specialist team in Banjul. However, we expect there will be an estimated annual saving of around £60,000.

Universities: Officer Training Corps

Lord Astor of Hever: To ask Her Majesty's Government in light of the suspension of training for the University Officer Training Corps (UOTC), how many officers from the UOTC they expect will go to Sandhurst in (a) two, (b) three, and (c) four years' time.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The number of officers from UOTC expected to go to Sandhurst in two, three, and four years' time can only be estimated. It is estimated that the number of officers for each period will be 346.
	The estimates are created from an average of the historical data of UOTC numbers starting at Sandhurst on both the Regular Commissioning Course and the Territorial Army Commissioning Course from 2006-08.
	Training activity for the UOTC has not been suspended and it is hoped that the majority of UOTC core training activity will continue on a voluntary basis. Undergraduates and instructors will continue to be reimbursed for travel and subsistence costs. Non-core training activities may also continue on a voluntary basis at the discretion of commanding officers subject to the availability of volunteer instructors.

Worker Registration Scheme

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are registered under the Worker Registration Scheme in respect of each of the European Union accession countries.

Lord West of Spithead: Not all European Union accession countries' workers need to register under the Worker Registration Scheme; nationals of Malta and Cyprus are not required to register. Information for the period May 2004 to quarter one 2009 can be accessed via the following link at http://www.bia. homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report/.
	Information for quarter two 2009 is available via the following at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/immiq209.pdf.